One of the troubles of shooting live events with wireless mics and onboard camera lights is, your camera only comes with one shoe mount. What if besides the onboard light, I wanted to add a couple of wireless mic packs to the camera? There are quite a few mounting options out there ranging from ridiculously expensive Bracket 1s to relatively cheap hot shoe extenders.

Pimped out XHA1

Pimped out XHA1

What I came across in my search for a mounting option is called the J-Rod. It simply consists of a aluminium pole with two cold shoes mounted to it. It’s this simplicity that makes the J-Rod work so well. You basically mount it in your camera’s microphone mount and then that’s it, you now have three times the mounting options. You can also mount a shockmount to your J-Rod and hey presto, you can now mount your shotgun mic to your camera and position it back enough so it won’t show up in your wide shots. The J-Rod is a great little mounting option that is also relatively cheap at $70US plus postage.

J-Rod up close